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Archive for May, 2010
Gulf of Mexico oil spill: fears raised over danger of chemical dispersants
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 11th, 2010
Telegraph: A mile-long tube was fed down to the leaking pipe on the sea floor and dispersant was shot directly into the flow, guided by remotely-operated robotic submarines. The dispersant is intended to break down the oil so that, over time, the slick is reduced to smaller particles that biodegrade instead of being left as chunky, thick globs that can choke both wildlife and vegetation. State and federal agencies "consented to the third test today of subsea dispersant," said John Curry, ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Gulf of Mexico oil spill: fears raised over danger of chemical dispersantsWe Can Live Without Oil, But Not Without Flora and Fauna
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 11th, 2010
Inter Press Service: The policies and deals that contributed to the massive oil spill under way in the Gulf of Mexico are also jeopardising the Earth's vital biological infrastructure, according to the Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, published Monday. The British Petroleum oil spill of 5,000 barrels a day in the Gulf of Mexico, which began Apr. 20 when an explosion caused a rupture at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, will have devastating consequences for marine life and coastal ecosystems for decades, ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on We Can Live Without Oil, But Not Without Flora and FaunaChina environmentalist alleges brutal jail treatment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 11th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: A top Chinese environmentalist said Tuesday he was beaten and suffered brutal treatment while serving a three-year jail term imposed after he spoke out about rampant pollution in a major lake. Wu Lihong also told AFP that authorities tried to force him to confess to bogus extortion charges. He defiantly vowed to clear his name. "I am innocent, it's obvious that the authorities have sought to harm me. I will continue to appeal the conviction and seek to clear my name," Wu, 42, ...
Marine biologist: Oil has reached Louisiana coast
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 11th, 2010
Guardian: X
United States: Biomass as power source is generating opposition
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 11th, 2010
Saint Louis Today: When Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition C in 2008, they made a commitment to support renewable energy, including biomass. And energy producers responded, vowing to build several power plants that promise to turn timber, wood chips and even corn cobs into electricity to power thousands of Missouri homes. But as those plans now go before state regulators, some environmentalists, property owners and timber industry officials are beginning to balk. They worry some ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Biomass as power source is generating oppositionUN fears ‘irreversible’ damage to natural environment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 10th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: The UN warned on Monday that "massive" loss in life-sustaining natural environments was likely to deepen to the point of being irreversible after global targets to cut the decline by this year were missed. As a result of the degradation, the world is moving closer to several "tipping points" beyond which some ecosystems that play a part in natural processes such as climate or the food chain may be permanently damaged, a United Nations report said. The third "Global Biodiversity ...
Changing technologies to keep up with climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 10th, 2010
Reuters: Technological innovation is key to helping African farmers cope with the increasing challenges posed by climate change, say specialists. "Temperatures have increased and the danger is that agriculture is the backbone of [Africa's] economies," Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, chief executive officer of the South-African based Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) [http://www.fanrpan.org/], told IRIN. "The increase in temperatures means we have less water in ...
Japan suggests a ‘Biodiversity Decade’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 10th, 2010
Mongabay: Japan, the host nation for the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit in October, has suggested adding a few more years to the UN's awareness-raising efforts on the biodiversity crisis. Instead of having the International Year of Biodiversity conclude after this December, Japan says it will propose making 2010-2019 the International Decade of Biodiversity. The announcement comes after a new UN report shows that biodiversity continues to decline worldwide threatening to 'tip' entire ecosystems ...
Madagascar: Frog rears young in dead leaves
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 10th, 2010
BBC: A new species of frog has been discovered that lays its eggs and grows its tadpoles in dead leaves that litter the forest floor. The frog, found in the rainforest of Madagascar, is the first amphibian known to reproduce in this way. Other species reproduce in water that collects or pools within plants, but the new frog is the first discovered to rear its young in fallen leaves. Details are published in the journal Naturwissenschaften. Scientists have called the ...
No end in sight as huge U.S. oil spill veers west
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 10th, 2010
Reuters: BP Plc said on Monday it will make another attempt at containing oil gushing deep in the Gulf of Mexico, this time with a much smaller funnel than it tried before, as a massive slick threatened Louisiana shores west of the Mississippi Delta. BP now aims to deploy a small "top hat" dome over the leak after its effort over the weekend to cover it with a huge metal box was stymied by a buildup of crystallized gas hydrates. Fears of a prolonged environmental and economic disaster ...